Personal Space
by Cartooned
Summary: Contains a shower, Rose in a towel and the Doctor being..well… the Doctor Inspired by the line "Erm... Doctor? Remember that little talk we had about PERSONAL SPACE?” in the Time and Chips unusual first line reunion challenge.


Title: Personal Space.

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Up to Doomday? You're okay!

Words: 1, 263

Summery: Contains a shower, Rose in a towel and the Doctor being..well… the Doctor

Author's Note: I have got to stop writing these completely shameless reunion ficlets. Inspired by the line "Erm... Doctor? Remember that little talk we had about PERSONAL SPACE?" in the Time and Chips unusual first line reunion challenge.

"Erm... Doctor? Remember that little talk we had about PERSONAL SPACE?" said Rose Tyler as she scrambled to grab the towel she had left hanging over the shower stall.

After another exhausting day working at Torchwood, all Rose Tyler had been looking forward to washing off the slime and going to bed. She certainly had not been expecting the Doctor to walk in during her shower, especially as he was supposed to be in the _other_ universe.

The Doctor leaned against the open bathroom door and smiled. No doubt extremely impressed with himself, thought Rose.

"What? No I missed you? No have you changed your suit lately? No what are you doing here?" asked the Doctor, as usual he was completely obvious to the social no no of walking in to the bathroom while someone is in the middle of a shower.

Rose held the towel close to her. "Doctor, could you please…" She nodded at the door.

"Oh, certainly," said the Doctor.

Rose sighed in relief. He got the hint. He could wait for ten minutes; she thought to herself, she needed that time to prepare, before she went out to face him. The reality of him. Could she really live that life again? With the Doctor? Is that what she really wanted? Or was it time to keep her feet firmly planted on the floor? Well, as much as she could at any rate, she did work at Torchwood after all.

But the Doctor closed the door behind him and turned to look at her, as if he had just performed a Herculean task.

"I meant with you on the other side," said Rose exasperated.

"Really?" said the Doctor, looking at the door confused, "It would be a bit hard for us to talk if I was on the other side."

"You know I could have sworn I locked that door," said Rose. The two years of living on the Tardis with an alien who did not entirely understand every subtle aspect of the human culture, had instilled a deep habit to lock both her bathroom and bedroom door. Even if she was home alone.

The Doctor, held up his sonic screwdriver. "Oh, you did lock it." He reassured her, cheerfully.

"Doctor, remember when I told you, that if I locked a door it was for a reason, and that you should only unlock the door if either of us were dying, the universe is collapsing or…"

"….if the Tardis is falling in to a black hole," The Doctor grinned and pointed out, "But those rules only applied on the Tardis. I remember. You wrote up this huge list of rules of personal space on the Tardis, and this isn't the Tardis. For one thing, it's not bigger on the inside," said the Doctor as he looked around the room, "It's actually looks smaller. Why did you get such a small bathroom?"

Rose rolled her eyes, she would so give money to learn the secret of how to make a dead lock seal.

"Well," said the Doctor, disappointment starting to cloud the edges of his face. "Aren't you going to ask how I got here? How I crossed the void, the eternal howling, and without collapsing two separate universes I might add..

Rose sighed and repeated dully, "How did you cross the void?"

Was it too much to ask for him to give her at least two minutes to get dressed?

"You know, you don't sound very enthusiastic," said the Doctor. "You could be more impressed. I did achieve the impossible you know."

"I'm very impressed," said Rose, maybe he would let her get dressed after he told her? "I really want to know, how did you cross the void without collapsing two universes."

The Doctor stepped forward, and grinned, "I'm brilliant."

"That's great, excellent, fantastic even," said Rose. Would he now finally give her some time?

The Doctor smiled, self satisfied, "Isn't it!"

Rose closed her eyes slightly, while the Doctor stood like he had no intention of going any time soon.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" asked the Doctor.

She looked down at herself, wrapped in the towel that was slowly being soaked, as water continued to drip from her hair and run down her legs. Then she looked up at the Doctor, standing fully dressed in a blue suit…the brown one had looked so much better on him... and his trench coat, complete with the red converse shoes.

"Yes."

"Why?" asked the Doctor, "That's a bit of a silly thing to do. I can't hug you if you're standing in the shower. It's too small for one. Though if you stand back I could sneak in the side there…."

"Doctor, my pajamas are over there," she nodded to the pile of clothes stacked neatly on the toilet lid. "I'm over here, and I can't get changed with you in the room."

"Really?" asked the Doctor, "Why not?"

"Are you just playing dumb or are you seriously this thick?" demanded Rose. "You're a man, I'm a woman. This is a very small bathroom, and I barely have any clothes on. Actually I have no clothes on, just a towel, a small one at that. "

The Doctor was silent.

"Well, the door is there," said Rose, risking pulling one arm away from her towel to point at the door. "and don't you dare run off anywhere. When I come out of this bathroom, you better be outside that door waiting."

The Doctor looked at her, "You do seem more pink and yellow then you usually do." He noted.

Rose nodded. He was finally getting the hint.

Then the Doctor said something she never thought she would hear him say.

"I like it."

"What?"

"I like you like this, all pink, yellow, soft and beautiful, not at all practical for running for your life or hoping for your life at that rate, but I like you like this in this room."

Rose's face softened, "Really?"

"Really, really, really," said the Doctor cheerfully as he stepped forward again. "Why else would I always find something I have just got to tell you as soon as you are in the shower?"

Rose looked at him, "So all that time, you knew exactly what you were doing! You knew all about the taboo of just walking in while someone is in the shower!"

The Doctor looked at her as if she was being particularly thick, "Rose, I've been traveling with humans on and off for over 600 years. You didn't really think I don't know absolutely everything about human culture by now."

The Doctor stepped forward again, and Rose slapped him.

"Ow," cried the Doctor, "What was that for?"

"That was for being a dirty old man," said Rose, "and for making me think you were just being naïve about human culture."

He continued to rub his cheek as he looked at her, wounded.

She dropped the towel.

He stopped rubbing his cheek, and the wounded look had definitely left his eyes.

"Now get in here and hug me properly," demanded Rose, capitalizing on her advantage while he was still in shock.

He stepped into the shower, and while there wasn't much room, as they both managed to hit their elbows at least twice on the shower wall, they seemed to manage okay, and when Rose finally had her arms wrapped around the Doctor's neck, as he kissed her just as passionately as she kissed him, she knew she was home.

Personal space was overrated, thought Rose happily, very much overrated.


End file.
